Dave Righetti pitched in the World Series in his first full season of a stellar 16-year career. He didn’t make it out of the third inning for the Yankees in a start against the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1981. That was it. Just two innings and then two more batters in the third and Righetti was done. That outing proved to be forgettable and unforgettable.

After that debacle of a start and a six-game loss to the Dodgers, Righetti kept trying to get back to the World Series with the Yankees, the Giants and in cameo appearances with three other teams. He made it there as a 22-year old. Surely, there would be another chance, he thought. But that next chance never came. Righetti retired with a 13.50 earned run average in his lone appearance in the World Series.

SAN FRANCISCO –- He was 22 years old and was starting his first-ever World Series game for New York. He was anxious. Of course, he was nervous. Who wouldn’t be? It was the Yankees against the Dodgers in 1981, the third time in five seasons that those monoliths had met for the title.

Twenty-nine years later, he can recall the pitches he threw and the pitches he shouldn’t have thrown. He can describe how he felt before, during and after a 5-4 loss. He still speaks wistfully about how he hoped to start again in the series, a start that never came because the Yankees lost in six games. Dave Righetti never pitched again in the World Series in his stellar career.